I've been dabbling at a The Martian book review for while now only to realize halfway through that it shouldn't have been a review to begin with. It should be an essay about how the author, Andy Weir, made me love a book that, based on the premise, really shouldn't have been my thing. I … Continue reading The Martian: Embracing Your Story’s “Flaws”
Category: Essay
Birdman: How to Develop a Theme
I finally, finally got around to watching Birdman. It's the kind of movie I felt like I really should watch, but at the same time I kept postponing it because, well... it looked artsy. I know. It's a dumb reason. Artsy/literary stories are no worse and no better than those of any other genre. Sturgeon's … Continue reading Birdman: How to Develop a Theme
Don’t Tell me the Meaning – Exhalation: Stories vs. The Story of Your Life and Others
Let's jump right in to it. This is going to be an essay about how to explore themes and big ideas when writing fiction. It's going contain some minor spoilers for some of the stories in the two Ted Chiang short story collections Exhalation: Stories and The Story of Your Life and Others (also known … Continue reading Don’t Tell me the Meaning – Exhalation: Stories vs. The Story of Your Life and Others
Toby Backman 